Puppy dog eyes as busy animal shelter seeks refuge

Lisa Hansen with six-year-old Edgar, who will join dozens of dogs and cats without a home if a new address can’t be found for the PAWS Darwin animal shelter.Source: News Limited

A DARWIN animal shelter may be forced to permanently close and leave the lives of hundreds of animals in limbo if it can’t find a new venue to operate from in coming weeks.

PAWS Darwin manager Lisa Hansen said the organisation was renting a shed in Humpty Doo but the lease was set to expire in August and the owner didn’t want to renew it. She said it was difficult to find a space to rent that was affordable, suitable for animals and spacious.

“We need power and water and a roof and somewhere for the dogs to run around,” Ms Hansen said.

PAWS Darwin rehomed more than 250 animals in the last financial year.

“If it wasn’t for us, those 250 animals would have been euthanised,” Ms Hansen said. The small shelter currently houses about 18 dogs, seven cats and five kittens.

Ms Hansen said she received calls from pet owners about surrendering their animals “every single day”. She said they also took in animals through council pounds. Ms Hansen said PAWS Darwin trained the animals and made sure all had passed behavioural tests prior to being made available for adoption.

She said “to not have PAWS Darwin here would leave a big hole in the community”.

Comments on this story

Billi of Darwin Posted at 10:57 PM July 14, 2014

Afew years ago I went to Paws Darwin in search of a "new man".. There he was.. He was so skinny and probably on his last day of life. He playfully ran up to me. The next day he was sniffing the plants in my garden. Two years later and we are lost without each other. I love him more than anything.
I hope that somebody can help save Paws, so many beautiful companions are yet to meet their new owners. It's a great cause and very needed in Darwin.

jj of darwin Posted at 1:40 PM July 10, 2014

The best people doing the best thing do it the toughest. Which is disgraceful.. My partner and I help PAWS when we can. Others should strongly consider

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